Drawing districts for partisan advantage is wrong

In the spitting match between President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom over congressional representation the real loser is democracy.

Gerrymandering, the redrawing of congressional districts to benefit one party over the other, is not new. Neither party is immune to it. Although it was considered unconstitutional, each majority party of a state has attempted to adjust congressional districts to their personal advantage. Sometimes it is subtle, other times it is blatant, but the ultimate result of getting caught was a slap on the wrist, a wag of the judicial finger and a mandate to redraw the districts.

At least until 2019.

Ruling that gerrymandering was nonjusticiable in the case of Rucho v. Common Clause, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority stating that excessive partisan gerrymandering “reasonably seem[s] unjust” and claimed not to condone it, but essentially passed the burden of adjudication from the ostensibly nonpartisan Supreme Court to the politically fractured and ineffective Congress.

Now it is spiraling out of control.

The Trump administration has been directing Texas, and now Missouri, to redraw their districts to give the Republican Party an advantage in the midterm elections. This is not only blatant, but an over reach of the president to intervene in state political affairs.

In what many are classifying as fighting fire with fire, Gov. Newsom of California has made moves to redraw the congressional districts of his state to offset the moves being taken by the Trump administration. Last week, Proposition 50, Newson’s plan to redraw districts to give Democrats an advantage, was approved by voters.

The problem is, they are both wrong to do so. By law it falls upon the legislatures of each state to propose changes to congressional maps. Those maps are meant to provide adequate representation to all citizens, regardless of political affiliation. By raging what amounts to a tug-of-war between liberals and Republicans this situation blindly missed the point.

If districts lean toward the minority political party that is because they are meant to be representative of the will of the people. Let the people have their appropriate representation!

Remember the people? Those individuals who our elected officials are supposed to answer directly to? By engaging in this blatant political power grab both parties are sending a very clear message to the American people: You don’t matter and the party outweighs the needs of the citizenry.

We fought for our very independence on the foundation of representation in government. Now as we approach the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, look where we are. I have never been more disgusted by the two party system than I am right now. The only way that we can bring this nonsense to an end is to assert our power as the electorate. Democrat or Republican, if anyone engages in this type of behavior, they should be removed through the democratic process before there is no democratic process left.

Schuyler Snakenberg is a social studies teacher in rural southeast Iowa with 17 years of experience.